1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a lock mechanism and, in particular, to a locking box having said lock mechanism.
2. Brief Statement of the Prior Art
Locking mechanisms having detenting balls which must be moved into or out of detenting positions to enable operation of the latch of the locking mechanism have been described in prior patents. U.S. Pat. No. 1,714,019 discloses a padlock in which a ball is interposed between the hasp and latch members to permit movement of the latch out of its hasp engaging position. The ball is transported to its operative, detenting position through a labyrinth, thereby defining an enabling sequence of lock positions.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,733,772, discloses a locking box having a keeper bolt which engages a hasp. The cover of the box receives the keeper bolt and has two obstructing, sliding bolts that are retained in obstruction to movement combination the keeper bolt by a plurality of balls. The enabling combination of positions for this box results in movement of the balls out of their detenting positions, freeing the obstructing rods for movement out of the path of the keeper bolt, and permitting movement of the keeper bolt to release the hasp.
While the aforedescribed attempts have been made to provide a lock mechanism requiring movement through a preselected sequence of positions, no attempt has been made to provide a maximum complexity of such a lock mechanism nor to provide interchanging of the combination of such a lock mechanism.